Step 7: Almost done

Step 8: Going further...

So, after breaking my original screwdriver, I'm looking to make a new one with improvements. I took some suggestions from the comment field, and I now...

If you need to open a lock, or simply put up a lot of cabinets, the sonic screwdriver is the tool for you. If you don't know about Doctor Who, the most amazing sci-fi/everything series ever, go see it right now. This was my first attempt at making a sonic for myself, modeled after the 9th/10th Doctor design. I'm quite pleased with the results; it lights up, and beeps a solid tone. Producing that famous sound would require a microcontroller or the like, which just won't fit inside the body. So, here goes...

Step 1: The Stuff

Time to gather the stuff. You'll need:

A magic marker, probably crayola, since the body is wider than others.
A cheap pen. try and get one that narrows towards the end, but it's okay.
1 push button switch. Maybe a slide switch if you want.
1 small buzzer. the round case type is important; make sure it will fit inside.
1 audio jack, female. this will be used to recharge whatever small battery you can cram inside.
1 power source. get a small rechargeable battery, or a supercapacitor. It took me some time to find one.
And, most importantly, a Tirefly. It's a little bike light that clips to the wheels somehow; it has the perfect shape for the screwdriver head. Substitute something else if you have to. You can buy a set here.

The tools:
Get some scissors, a craft knife, and some pliers. Also superglue. And a drill. Plus the regular soldering stuff.

This was great! It served as a nice foundation to work off of. Your 2.0 looks interesting, but a bit too much for my son and my own limited electronics knowledge. This was simple.

Mods:

* 3/4" electrical conduit pipe instead of a magic marker. It felt more hefty, for all of the work that goes into the innards.

* Copper compression nut for the end with a clear marble superglued on the end. The LED sits behind the marble, making the whole thing glow (green, in our case).

* Exterior 9volt battery. The amount of rechargeables for the buzzer and LED to work got pricey for my first shot (I'm going to keep an eye open for junked toys, etc., for future ones). I'm interested in the capacitors you used for 2.0, but didn't really understand how they worked (I did experiment with them, to no avail.). My 9v straps on the back end, extending the tube without it being too obvious (and hides behind the wrist while being gripped).

My 7 year old son helped me make it for my 11 year old son's birthday. It helped him understand circuits and how to use a hacksaw.

It definitely would. I would recommend a resistor on the charging part that's appropriate for your power source, in this case one that'll reduce 5v to 3.3v. I recently burned up my supercap by plugging it into a 9v battery for too long.

Or one of the ATtinys in 8-pin DIP form. Assembled dead bug style it might just barely slip inside. I've thought about trying something like that but working out wavetable synthesis is more advanced than anything I've done with one yet.

You could probably get the correct sound using a 556 timer in the Atari Punk Console configuration. Make the circuit, turn the knobs until the sound's right then measure the resistances and replace pots with fixed resistors. If you used an SMD model and maybe wrapped the whole thing in heat shrink tubing, I reckon you could get that in the handle.